January 2024 broke the record for the hottest January in history at 13.14 degrees Celsius (55.65 degrees Fahrenheit), the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a statement. The level was 0.70 degrees Celsius above the average January temperature from 1991 to 2020 and 0.12 degrees Celsius above the previous hottest January temperature before 2020, it said on Wednesday.
This is the eighth consecutive month to be the warmest on record.
January 2024 was also wetter than average across much of Europe, with particularly stormy northern and southwestern Europe, while drier than average across much of Spain, the Maghreb, southern Britain, Ireland, the eastern Balkans and Scandinavia.
The statement complemented comments from C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess, who said it was "more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial reference period in 12 months".
She urged rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to halt rising global temperatures.